A new Maggie's Centre has been added to the long list of the renowned, design- and wellbeing-led cancer support centres in the UK. Maggie's Southampton has been designed by London-based architect Amanda Levete and her team at AL_A, and it is ready to open its doors to staff, patients and visitors next month. The new building is located within rich architectural gardens – a ‘woodland oasis' of four distinct planted areas that ‘reflect the ecology of the nearby New Forest'.
The centre’s main building sits in the green site that has completely transformed a corner of the hospital site previously used for car parking. It has been conceived to offer support to the Southampton General Hospital's specialist oncology unit, which serves a population of 3.2 million people across the region.
‘We have imagined that a piece of garden has been transported from the New Forest into the midst of the hospital’s car park, bringing serenity and a bit of magic to the place,' says Levete.
The building feels clearly delineated and geometric, almost minimalist, broadly defined by straight lines and distinct surfaces; yet austere and cold, it is not. A palette of materials and textures ensures a layered and tactile approach that creates warm interiors and surfaces that are friendly to the touch. There are earthy ceramic-clad walls and four corners wrapped in a mottled stainless steel that reflects its green environment adding a dreamy quality. Inside, simple white plastered walls, ceramic and wood make for a welcoming and functional composition.
At the heart of the space is a communal kitchen table, illuminated by a skylight above. Around it are arranged private areas, including consulting rooms and quiet spaces, which open up to the surrounding foliage through generous glazing.
Landscape designer Sarah Price is behind the planting in the outdoor areas. ‘There’s no doubt that looking at nature has a positive impact on how we feel,' she says. ‘The landscape is inspired by the New Forest, and draws its healing power from the rich diversity of the forest’s flora: wood anemones, orchids, wild garlic, lesser celandines, bluebells and primroses, mosses and ferns, growing in the woodland pathways.'
INFORMATION
-
Could reimagining play reshape childhood? 21st Europe argues for playgrounds as infrastructureA new blueprint by think tank 21st Europe and Spacon calls for playgrounds to be treated as vital civic infrastructure – on par with museums, stations and energy grids
-
In Vietnam, Amanoi’s most indulgent residence yet is almost hidden on an East Sea clifftopAman’s ‘place of peace’ in Vietnam introduces the Amanoi Ocean Pool Residence, an architectural feat complete with its own private beach and spa
-
Yinka Ilori just teamed up with M.A.D. Editions on a trio of ultra-colourful watchesBut hurry – you'll need to enter a raffle to score one for yourself
-
15 years of Assemble, the community-driven British architecture collectiveRich in information and visuals, 'Assemble: Building Collective' is a new book celebrating the Turner Prize-winning architecture collective, its community-driven hits and its challenges
-
Meet Studio Knight Stokoe, the landscape architects guided by ‘resilience, regeneration and empathy’Boutique and agile, Studio Knight Stokoe crafts elegant landscapes from its base in the southwest of England – including a revived brutalist garden
-
Tour this compact Kent coast jewel of a cabin with StudiomamaJack Mama and Nina Tolstrup take us on a tour of their latest project – a small but perfectly formed Kent coast cabin in Seasalter, UK
-
Boutique London rental development celebrates European courtyard livingLondon design and development studio Wendover unveils its newest residential project, 20 Newcourt Street, comprising nine apartments; we toured with co-founder Gabriel Chipperfield
-
A refreshed Fulham house balances its history with a series of 21st-century interventionsA Fulham house project by Bureau de Change creates a 21st-century domestic haven through a series of contemporary interventions and a deep connection to the property's historical fabric
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s favourite July housesFrom geometric Japanese cottages to restored modernist masterpieces, these are the best residential projects to have crossed the architecture desk this month
-
Visiting an experimental UK home: welcome to HousesteadThis experimental UK home, Housestead by Sanei + Hopkins, brings together architectural explorations and daily life in these architects’ own home
-
A house in Leamington Spa is a domestic oasis infused with contemporary sensibilitiesThis house in Leamington Spa, by John Pardey Architects, brings together flood risk considerations, a conservation area's historic character, and contemporary sensibilities
